Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
narratives was the particularly incapacitating nature of the surgical
intervention both in the short term and longer term which had both
physical and emotional consequences.
So, is there a ‘black hole?’ The answer to this question is that, for
some of the participants who were not cared for by the CNS, a
black hole did exist. The general practitioner and district nurses
were not routinely or actively involved in their care and they
‘muddled on’ with the support of family or friends. There was a
distinct level of dissatisfaction expressed with the information
received prior to discharge with participants objecting to a ‘one size
fits all’ approach. There is a requirement for detailed information
prior to leaving hospital tailored to individual needs, especially for
individuals with symptoms incongruent with clinical expectations.
An information package needs to include information related to the
actions to take if complications occur and taking into account
elimination patterns and activity, management of existing
symptoms. The information given needs to be of a level that would
help an individual formulate a realistic picture of events that might
occur in the early recovery period at home. Having more
individually tailored information about bowel function would
hopefully remove some of the associated anxiety.
Whilst many healthcare professionals have ‘knowledge’ about the
various forms of illness, they may not always recognise the
experiential values of pain, fear, uncertainty, isolation, incontinence
and other conditions of the body and mind displayed by these
patients. Illness is a multifaceted experience; therefore; central to
its understanding is the requirement that the entire experience be
considered from the patient’s perspective. People whose lives are
affected by cancer can be viewed as experts on living with its
consequences. Drawing on their experiences can hopefully make a
significant contribution to the planning and delivery of care.
References
Buckman, R. (1992) How to Break Bad News: a Guide for Health
Professionals. London: Pan Books.
Carnevali, D. and Reiner, A. (1990) The cancer experience: nursing
diagnosis and management. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott
Corner, J. (1997a) ‘Beyond survival rates and side effects: cancer
nursing as a therapy. The Robert Tiffany Lecture. 9 th International
Conference on Cancer Nursing, Brighton, UK, August 1996’, Cancer
Nursing 20 (1), pp3-11.
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